Newsletters
To read the Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) APril 2025 Month Newsletter, click on the button below.
Director's Letter of the Month:
| April 1, 2025 听 Dear 黑料社区网 Community & Supporters of the CHA, Athough this is April 1, this is not an April Fool鈥檚 Newsletter. Nobody needs to feel pranked right now when there鈥檚 so much happening in the world, and when mainstream news articles feel like they could come straight out of The Onion, April Fool鈥檚 jokes lose their appeal. I usually like to share what I鈥檓 reading in a post-script but I want to quote from a work that I鈥檓 re-reading in preparation for hosting the , Dr. Caleb Elfenbein: 鈥淎 foundational premise of this book [Fear in Our Hearts: What Islamophobia Tells Us about America] is that widespread fear or suspicion of Muslims results from the corrosive effects of hate鈥攁nd, more precisely, public hate. Public hate is public speech or activity that draws on and/or perpetuates negative stereotypes about a particular group of people and that encourages others to fear or suspect all members of that group鈥 (Elfenbein 3) Dr. Elfenbein will deliver a talk, 鈥,鈥 on Wednesday, April 2, 4:00-5:30pm (with a reception to follow) in the Aspen Room of the UMC. You don鈥檛 want to miss this鈥攅specially because anti-Muslim hate is, tragically, still a topic in which we need to educate ourselves and others, particularly in the times we are living in. If you missed our co-sponsored event with CU Art Museum, COVID Five Years Later: A Conversation, you can and read Professor Lucy Chester鈥檚 remarks about what it has been like, for her, . We will also be continuing our Thursday听 (1:00-4:00pm) through April 24, and we are also returning to 鈥 if you are interested in being in a working accountability group, where you meet (either in-person or remotely) with 4-6 other people also working on projects this summer, and we will put you into groups 鈥 this is open to all graduate students, staff, faculty, and community members 鈥 please fill out the form on or before May 2 (Friday) and we鈥檒l get you set up the following week so you can start meeting and working with others who need some help with being accountable on their projects. Times are dark and stressful. But if you read history, you know that as long as there have been humans, there have been dark and stressful times. There have also always been things we can do to combat the dark and stressful times. Arts and humanities are one such antidote. So let me close with one more passage from Fear in Our Hearts as an enticement to have you join us on Wednesday, April 2, 4:00-5:30pm: 鈥淭here are many little things that we can do to overcome fear and fear mongering and create the circumstances for all American citizens to engage in public life freely and on their own terms. They aren鈥檛 grand. They don鈥檛 need to be. Being a good ally is often about the little things鈥 (Elfenbein 144). The little things we do matter. During Spring Break I received an email from a 黑料社区网 colleague I don鈥檛 know very well but whom I respect tremendously. She wrote to just tell me she was thinking of me and hoped I was doing OK. This email meant the world to me鈥擨 read it at the end of a very hard day. The email made me feel seen and cared for and reminded me that the small acts of kindness truly matter during the dark and stressful days. Sincerely, Jennifer Ho Director, Center for Humanities & the Arts PS. So I can鈥檛 help but end with a poem since April is National Poetry Month and 鈥鈥 by Sonia Sanchez has the kind of fierce energy that we all need right now. May we all find inspiration from General Tubman鈥攕he is proof that all of us can make a huge difference in the world, especially when we work with others. |
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Keep in touch with CHA and campus funding opportunities, deadlines, events, and highlights by subscribing to our monthly newsletter today!
Submit Your Story
If you are interested in sharing your event, opportunity, or story with the CHA's audience via our newsletters or social media, please visit our submission form at www.colorado.edu/cha/submit-your-story.